Ronaldo breaks goalscoring record - plus how other Man Utd & City players fared in international games

The first night of fixtures from the current international break began with a bang, as Cristiano Ronaldo recorded yet another remarkable football milestone.

But Portugal weren’t the only side in action, and players from Manchester United and Manchester City represented four other nations on Wednesday night.

Portugal

There’s only one place to start, and that’s with the goalscoring exploits of Ronaldo, who broke Ali Daei’s international record of 109 goals, by netting a brace against the Republic of Ireland to take his tally to 111.

United’s new signing couldn’t have secured the new accolade in more dramatic circumstances, as Portugal approached the final minutes of their World Cup qualifier trailing 1-0. Enter Ronaldo - the No.7 popped up with a header in the 89th minute to equalise before nodding home the winner in the sixth minute of injury-time.

It means no male player in the history of football has ever scored more international goals than Ronaldo, and we can expect that tally to keep increasing over the years.

The win means Portugal are top of their group after four games, although the other four sides in the mini table have all played one fewer game. United’s Bruno Fernandes and City’s Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva were also involved on Wednesday night.

Republic of Ireland

Ronaldo didn’t quite have everything his own way in the Algarve, and he actually missed a first-half penalty, thanks to the excellent goalkeeping of Gavin Bazunu.

The City youngster, who is on loan at Portsmouth, was born a year before Ronaldo made his international debut and earned his fifth senior cap against the Portuguese.

The loss means Ireland have little chance of qualifying for the World Cup, having been defeated in all of their three group games to date.

France

A trio of United stars were involved for the world champions on Wednesday, as they drew 1-1 with Bosnia & Herzegovina. Raphael Varane and Paul Pogba started for Les Bleus, while Anthony Martial came off the bench.

Former City man Edin Dzeko gave the visitors the lead in Strasbourg before Antoine Greizmann equalised for the French before the break. Sevilla’s Jules Kounde was sent off in the second half for Didier Deschamps’s men, who face Ukraine on Saturday.

Ukraine

Speaking of the Ukrainians, they were also in action on Wednesday, and drew 2-2 with Kazakhstan in Nur-Sultan. Roman Yaremchuk scored an early contender for goal of the international break (if that’s a thing) when he smashed home a dipping shot from around 30 yards after just two minutes.

City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko played the full 90 minutes for the visitors and occupied his usual international position of centre-midfield.

The draw leaves Ukraine second in the group with four points, although Finland - on two points - have two games in hand, while France lead the table on eight points.

Wales

Finally, the Welsh played out a goalless draw on Wednesday with Finland, in an international friendly. United youngster Dylan Levitt, who is on loan at Charlton Athletic, played the full 90 minutes and earned his ninth senior cap.

Next up for Wales is a World Cup qualifier with Belarus on Sunday, before they host Estonia three days later.